A Love Triangle
by NinerMediaPhantom
Summary: Inside the Niner Media offices, a love triangle is brewing...
1. Chapter 1

Their eyes met across the crowded Student Union. As the sunlight filtered through the windowed entrance of the union, a strand of Lauren's hair fell across her face as she sat in the armchairs people watching. She lifted her arm, and moved the hair back into place.

From the elevators, Corey gazed at Lauren. The love affair had been going on for weeks now, and no one in the offices knew anything about it. He smiled, stepping into the elevator, as he thought of their first time together.

_Late one Tuesday after Niner Times production had ended, Corey sat alone in his office looking over the pages. The staff had finally all left; Ed and Joel had finished their pages last, and Corbin had decided to stay behind and post new articles to the website. When all work had been done and computers logged off, Corey was eventually alone._

_When he had to go to the bathroom, he stood and left his office, planning to return after a quick break. He walked swiftly down the hall, and as he passed the Sanskirt office, he glanced in. Lauren sat behind a computer, reading over a poem for the magazine. He wasn't sure why, but Corey wanted to say something, anything, to her._

_As he used the bathroom, he decided that if Lauren was still alone when he returned, he would say hello to her. He flushed, washed his hands, and eagerly left the men's restroom. His heart raced and his pace slowed as he approached the Sanskirt office._

_He stopped at the door, and looked in. Lauren sat quietly in the room, her face lit only by the computer screen. Corey took a deep breath, and knocked on the door._

_"Hey Lauren," Corey's voice cracked and he cleared his throat. "What are you doing here so late?"_

_She looked up, startled by the sudden voice in the previously silent office. "Oh, you know, reading." Her voice trailed off as she met his eyes, then glanced away._

_"Can I come in?" He asked, though he entered before he received permission. _

Corey walked to his office, reliving that night for the hundredth time since it had happened. As he sat at the desk, he prayed no one would question Lauren's presence in his office.

As that thought crossed his mind, Lauren peeked her head around the corner of Corey's doorframe.

"Can I come in?" She smirked as she entered and sat in the chair across from him. "How are you?" Her slender fingers traced the edge of his desk, and Corey smiled back.

"I'm great, now close the door." They laughed, as Corey came out from behind his desk and the pair came together in a long embrace.

* * *

><p>In the NinerOnline room, Erika and Colby struggled to edit together the next episode of Print Error. It was midday on Thursday, and half of the people employed by NinerOnline crowded the small office.<p>

"Let's go work in the Times room," Erika suggested to Colby. "I can't do this in here."

He nodded in agreeance, and they began making their way to the newspaper's office.

"Corey!" Erika called out to him as she and Colby entered the room. Dana (N) and Dana (B) looked up from the conversation they were having and smiled.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Dana (N) asked.

"Not a whole lot. We want to do some work in here." Erika went to the door of Corey's office and put her ear to it. "Is Corey in there alone?"

"No, he's in there with Lauren." Dana (B) looked knowingly at Erika, alluding to suspicions of an intimate relationship between Corey and Lauren.

Erika caught Dana (B)'s hints, and smiled, listening at the door to Corey's office again. "Sounds like Corey is getting it in." She laughed and looked over at Colby, who was not smiling.

A pang of jealously shot through Colby as he thought of Corey and Lauren together. Colby had been interested in Lauren since his involvement with Niner Media began, and the thought of Corey being bolder and making a move first made him want to vomit.

Erika noticed the look on Colby's face, and laughed as she moved away from Corey's office and towards a computer.

"What's wrong, Colby?" She asked, as her laughter began to break up her words. "Want to hook up with Corey?"

"No!" Colby snapped back quickly, and the laughter that had filled the room ended.

"God Colby, I was just kidding."

Colby sighed as he joined Erika at a computer.

Not long after, the door to Corey's office opened, and Lauren stepped out. Colby turned and watched as Lauren left the Niner Times office. His heart sank as Corey moved into the doorway of his office and smiled.

"What was going on in there, Corey?" Dana (N) said as she watched Corey attempt to restrain his smile.

"Nothing. We were just discussing ways to, uh," Corey struggled to find words. "Bring Sanskirt and the paper together. We, uh, might include them in the website."

"How?"

"We don't know yet." Corey glanced at his feet, noticing that one was bare and the other had a sock. He hid the bare foot behind the doorframe. "We still need to talk to RFC. They might want to be involved. Or something. We just don't know yet." Corey quickly backed into his office and shut the door again.

"Sketch." Dana (B) looked at Dana (N), who nodded.

"Corey got some." Erika laughed as she went back to her work.

Colby sunk back in his seat, losing himself to his thoughts. He was determined to defeat Corey and win Lauren's affection. His jealousy and anger flared as he thought of what had just happened in Corey's office, and he vowed that he would not take no as an answer from the apple of his eye.


	2. The End of a Magical Thing

"I heard Corey is going to the train station to see Lauren off," Dana (B) whispered to Erika in the NinerOnline room.

Colby, who sat at the table across the room, perked up at the sound of Lauren's name. "What train station? Why?"

"She's going to the Amtrak station tomorrow. There is a train that goes along the route and goes through Charlotte, and stops at Atlanta. She's going down there for some magazine thing," Erika snickered before she continued. "And Corey apparently isn't good at keeping his plans for tomorrow a secret."

"I heard him telling Ciera earlier today. I think she might know all about the relationship or something," Dana (B) finished explaining, as Colby glanced back at the journal on the table in front of him. He quickly began scrawling down the details of what he had just heard.

That night, Colby sat alone in his bedroom, his eyes straining as he looked at the train departures for the next day. He was determined to find which platform Lauren's train would be leaving from.

"Platform nine and…three quarters? There is no way…" Colby stared at the screen in disbelief. Was Lauren straight out of Harry Potter? Did Corey know? Was Corey a wizard too? Was that why he was going with her?

Colby set his alarm for the next morning, determined not to miss them at the train station.

Despite his efforts, Colby still managed to be running late the next morning, and found himself rushing through the crowds at the train station the next morning to get to the center of platforms nine and ten before Lauren and Corey did.

Panting and out of breath, he approached the spot between the stations, but Lauren and Corey already stood there talking.

"Corey, I can't keep doing this. I can't keep having this secret relationship. Either you agree to let people know, or it's over."

"I can't just let people know," Corey struggled to find words. "Office politics, and stuff. And inner-office relationships."

"We're in different departments!" Lauren turned away from him, and her eyes locked with Colby. "What…what are you doing here?"

"I need to tell you something," Colby's eyes darted back and forth between Lauren and Corey, his breath coming in slow heaves. "I love you."

Lauren's jaw dropped as she continued to stare at him.

"You what?" Corey's hands curled into fists as his eyes narrowed.

"I've loved you since," Colby ignored Corey, looking deep into Lauren's eyes. "I've loved you since I first saw you! I've been too embarrassed and shy to let you know before, but I'm not going to stand around and let you sneak around with him! He's not good enough for you Lauren!"

"You're not man enough!" Corey shot back at Colby, and the pair locked eyes, glaring.

"That's it! That's it! I can't take this anymore!" Lauren moved so she was standing in between the boys, looking back and forth between them. "I don't want to be with either of you. Corey, we've had fun together, but you refuse to let other people know about us. I can't keep our relationship a secret, and I don't care enough to fight you on it."

"What about me?" Colby looked at Lauren with round, puppy dog eyes.

"That beanie you always wear is gross and it weirds me out," Lauren turned from them both and lifted her bag. "Now, I have a train to catch. The two of you should get back to school now."

And with those parting words, Lauren entered through the wall between platforms nine and 10.

"That. Was. Awesome." Colby stared breathless after Lauren.

"You're a jackass." Corey punched Colby in the face, breaking his nose, and walked away.

Two weeks later in the media offices, Colby finally confessed his love to Erika.

"And then Corey broke your nose?" Erika's eyes teared up from her laughter. "That's great. That's just great."

"I disagree. It hurt. Almost as much as the loss of my love."

"That's pretty cool that she's a wizard. I'm jealous. Did you try to go through the wall after her? I wonder if it was an illusion or something."

"Erika, you are missing the point. Corey broke my nose and I'm heartbroken."

"I think you're missing the point. I want her to teach me wizard stuff. I'd use Avada Kedava on you," Erika laughed again, filling the NinerOnline room with the sound.

"Isn't my pain bad enough?" Colby rested his head on the table, careful not to touch his throbbing nose on his arm.


End file.
